Commander's Rounds Volume 1

Entry 36-2: The Commander's Promise- Assessment

It was something Enterprise loathed. She knew why it had to be done, but that doesn't mean that she liked it any more- in fact, she liked having to do it even less than she liked thinking about it. However, she was a good soldier, and she would do what was necessary regardless of her own personal feelings on the matter.

With the commander out of action for at least the near future, she had to take care of all military affairs at Azur Lane, and that meant calling an emergency meeting of all of the people the commander said should be gathered in the event that he was as thoroughly incapacitated as he was at the moment. Aside from herself, there was Richelieu of the Iris, Yat Sen from the Dragon Empery, Nagato of the Sakura Empire, Sovetskaya Rossiya of the Northern Parliament, Vittorio Veneto of the Sardegna Empire, Bismarck of the Ironblood, and Warspite from the Royal Navy. Aside from those, the commander also insisted that Z23 be called to the meeting as she was one of the few ships he had entrusted with his contingency plans.

They had all gathered, and they all knew why they were there. So after some opening talk, Enterprise looked around. She was about to take a seat, but then realized she was about to sit at the commander's desk. She stopped herself- though he was out of action, the commander was still alive, and as long as the commander lived that seat belonged to him. She opted to stand instead. "The unfortunate truth of the matter is that this was always a possibility, and the truth of the matter is that people like us are forced to always reckon with facts."

Warspite responded right after. "It's still going to cause some trouble. Even if we knew this was something that could happen in the abstract, having it become reality is still another thing entirely."

Enterprise gave a nod to that. "Exactly. Which is why, whatever our own feelings might be on the matter, none of us can be seen to waver. While we all owe much to the commander and were even close to him, this is still a crucial moment. Azur Lane must be able to endure the absence of its commander. It would almost be an insult to those who sacrificed themselves in the old days if we fell apart due to the temporary loss of one man."

Nagato spoke up. "There may be those who are more deeply affected by this than others, and there will certainly be those who blame themselves for what has occurred. We cannot allow this to happen, and we ought to act quickly to stem the tide of flagellation."

"True." Enterprise thought on this. "I'll set Bremerton on this immediately, and tell her she can appropriate as many assistants as she requires. I assume that the rest of you will cooperate?"

Vittorio Veneto gave a nod. "Of course. After all, if there's anything to blame for all of this, it's that Purifier girl instead of any of us. None of us fired the shots that have caused this state of affairs."

Richelieu spoke up as well. "I will also do my part. People often speak to me in confidence on certain matters, looking for advice or comfort, so I will do what can be done to calm what is likely to develop."

It was then that Bismarck had something to add. "Aside from the state of the commander, we should also think of our own available forces. Z23, I believe you had prepared something?"

"Yes." Z23 put on her glasses, and produced some papers. "We deployed 180 ships to meet Purifier's attack, and of those, 30 were undamaged, 90 only needed minor work and can be put in the field immediately. 60 still need some time to recuperate, and of those, 30 are expected to be out of action for more than two weeks." She shuffled through the papers. "Included in those 30 are the major surface combatants Jean Bart, Massachusetts, Zuikaku, Bunker Hill, Hood, Kaga, Scharnhorst, and Nelson, plus assorted cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. The good news is that all of them will end up back on their feet and able to go into action good as new, it will just be a matter of time."